My Color, Our Style: Part 3
by Emi Hikari
Summary: Having returned to Edge, Mae rejoins ShinRa and hopes to pick up where she left off. But with Rufus' eye on a rival gang, and the entrance of the new girl, not all things can be renewed so easily.
1. I: The winner's prize

I: The winner's prize

Even though no real battle had been fought, when I stepped back into Rufus' office for the first time since leaving, I felt as though I'd won a war. Rufus must've noticed, too, because he just smirked at me.

"Don't look so smug just yet," he told me. "Have a seat."

For once, I silently did as I was told. After all, he hadn't officially hired me back yet, meaning my name was still not on the payroll. For now, I was under his authority completely.

"You do realize by now, I hope, that I sent you to Fort Condor for a legitimate reason," he said. I nodded.

"The rival company, right?" I answered. "Aragaki Industries?"

"Yeah, that's them." Rufus sighed. "Normally I wouldn't bother giving them a minute of my attention, but lately they've been sneakier than usual." He paused, then continued, looking me straight in the eye. "I have more than one reason to believe that they have been spying on our company."

"Really? Are they that competitive?"

"The president of Aragaki Industries is desperate. I've known him for a while, and he has always been the type to do anything to get ahead. He hasn't been ahead in a long time, hence the drastic measures now."

"I did notice some shady stuff going on over there," I admitted. "But d'ya think they've got spies working out here, too?"

"Were you in his shoes, would you do the same?"

I nodded. He had a valid point. Even if Rufus had done background checks on every person he'd ever hired, he still might not be able to track a spy. After all, that was part of their job-to go undercover.

"You want me to find the spy."

"You can handle it, can't you?"

Smirking, I shrugged. "I'll give it a go. What can it hurt?"

"Then, welcome back to Edge, Mae."

^^vv^^vv^^

"There she is, the runaway herself!" Elena shouted as Mae walked through the door to Rude's apartment. Rude, Reno, and Tseng were already there waiting.

"Yes, yes, I know I'm high in demand, but please, calm down," Mae said, waving her hands as if to settle an imaginary crowd down. Elena laughed and hugged Mae tightly. "Ow, ow, OK, I missed you too. Now let's just get this move-in over with."

The guys stood, Reno leading the way. Rude hung back, as usual assuming his role as the quiet guardian. But that was how it had always been for him.

Rude had always been quiet. He realized from an early age that it was advantageous for him to be on the silent side. Attracting unwanted attention for his appearance anyway, Rude kept that in mind as he grew up, and because of his demeanor, he had few enemies.

His first impression of Reno was not a positive one. Rude was always one to quickly judge those who were loud, and Reno fit that description both physically and in personality. Rude didn't talk much, but Reno did, and sometimes Reno talked for Rude, which was irritating. Still, Rude was never able to bring himself to correct Reno.

One day, after they had been co-workers for some time, Rude let a single comment slip:

"You know, Reno, you really do talk too much."

To Rude's surprise, Reno just laughed.

"Yeah, I know. But you keep listening, so how can I help myself?"

"Do _you_ ever listen?"

"Well, you've never asked me to."

In that exchange, the two had reached an understanding. The two trusted each other very much, and Rude eventually became grateful to have Reno around, not only as his partner on missions, but as a friend.

When Mae started at ShinRa, she almost immediately befriended Rude, simply because she found him to be a relief.

"Man, finally, a silent-type guy. You're a blessing, y'know it?" she had said, only kidding a little. "That Reno guy-he drives me insane! Not that it's anything new."

Mae revealed later that she had known Reno from high school, and Rude believed it. Though he never said it, Rude imagined Mae and Reno as very similar people at times, and at other times entirely different. Regardless of the trouble they both got him into, he enjoyed being their friend.

^^vv^^vv^^

"Not gonna lie, I'm kinda jealous of you, Mae," Elena said as she followed me up the stairs. "You're going to have so much fun here."

"Yep, two clowns at my disposal," I joked. Elena joined me in laughing.

I was, of course, referring to Reno and Rude. Before moving out of Edge, I had lived in a separate apartment complex, but this time, my old room hadn't been available for me, and I ended up in the same complex as them. We were on different floors, but I was directly below Rude's room. Really, it couldn't have worked out any better. Had I ended up below Reno, or above, I would have run into some problems.

But I'm not to that yet, am I?

Anyway, the move-in was quick, what with all of them helping me, and soon we were settling on dinner plans.

As Reno and Rude tried to look up decent take-out, Tseng started a conversation. He usually was like that when things settled down. Outside of work, we were his only source of entertainment.

"Did you know about the award ceremony we're having this year, Mae?" he asked, and I thought about it for a minute.

"Well, I guess we have a dinner for our annual awards, right?" I replied. Elena nodded in confirmation. Every year at ShinRa, there was an award banquet; that was the time for big announcements and promotions, awarding licenses, and employee of the year. Usually it wasn't much of an event; I had missed last year's, but we'd had a smaller version at Fort Condor.

"This year marks an anniversary, though," Tseng pointed out. "Meaning-"

"They're pulling out all the stops for it," Elena finished. Her eyes were practically glittering. "Seriously, it's, like, some kinda ball or something."

"…I'm wearing a suit," I said, sighing and leaning back on my couch. Elena elbowed me.

"You have to dress up, c'mon…" Elena let out a frustrated sigh. I imitated her, folding my arms across my chest.

"YO!" I shouted. "Reno, Rude! You guys done _yet_?"

"Almost, almost," Reno grumbled.

"It's not my fault," Rude added. I couldn't help but grin.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. Elena and Tseng looked at each other in confusion. I was equally perplexed; I hadn't invited anyone else.

_Maybe it's Rufus_, I thought, not putting it past him to barge in uninvited. I couldn't do anything to stop him if he was already here, so I got up and answered the door.

The moment I opened the door, I got tackle-hugged. I nearly fell over, because I wasn't expecting it. But the weirdest part was that I didn't recognize this person-it was some girl.

"Excuse me, but are you drunk?" I asked, pushing the girl away. She beamed up at me, then her face seemed to fall in disappointment. It was then that I recognized her from the party at Rufus' house.

"Oh…I-you're…you're not who I thought-oh~!"

Pushing past me, the girl rushed over to Reno, who seemed surprised but not unhappy.

"Did you see what I just did?" she laughed, hugging him. "I got soooo confused! Why are we meeting here? This isn't your room, right?"

"No, it's mine," I said loudly, shutting the door hard.

"Ah, yeah," Reno said, stepping past the blonde. "You two have never officially met. Mae, this is Annya. She got hired into your spot when you left. Annya, this is Mae."

"Sorry I hugged you," she said, smiling. She had the face of an angel, but those are the type you should avoid in the end. "You just looked like Reno from a glance."

I could feel my face go sour at her comment. Over Elena's snicker, I managed to sputter, "Nice to meet you too."

"I invited her over; that's cool, right?" Reno said. He didn't give me time to answer, probably because he already knew what the answer was going to be. "So anyway, take-out, anyone?"


	2. II: People like you are why guns exist

II: People like you are why guns exist

Several weeks had passed since the incident at Mae's new apartment. Though she hadn't forgotten about it, she'd let the issue go for the sake of her friendship with Reno. Still, something about Annya truly bothered Mae. It wasn't something she could talk to Reno or Elena about, but Mae got her chance with Rude one day at work.

The two were often assigned to weapon testing and training together, mainly because they were the two most responsible members of the team. Also, their personalities were a good balance, and they were both intelligent.

"Last time I had to come by myself," Rude told Mae when they were in the elevator. Mae raised an eyebrow.

"I thought Annya was hired in my place?"

"Like there's any chance in hell they'd let her near this place."

Not bothering to hide her pride, Mae grinned to herself.

"This is arguably the best part of working here," she confessed when they reached the bottom floor. Several yards underground, ShinRa's weapon facility was open to only a select few (Mae and Rude being two of them). This was where weapons were initially tested, and also where they were often stored.

"Looks like they've got things ready for us," Mae commented, looking at a long table in the middle of the room. Several different types of guns were laid out, each one labeled. There was a chart of data on the end of the table nearest to them.

"This is new," Rude said. "Never seen so many stealth guns before."

"This is gonna be an awesome session," Mae breathed, touching one of the bigger guns gently, like it was a beloved friend.

"Should I bring Harry out?"

^^vv^^vv^^

Harry, as we had named him long ago, was our target practice dummy. There wasn't just one Harry; we had to have a new one every time we did a new round of tests, since he took so much damage. We were on Harry the XI at this point, and I knew he'd be lucky to make it all the way through this session.

I picked up the smallest gun first as Rude put Harry in his place. Rude had made a comment about the weapons being made for stealth, and he was absolutely right. I knew that all of this was connected to Fort Condor somehow. For some reason or another, Rufus was getting prepared for the worst.

"What's wrong?" Rude asked me.

"Eh? Nothing, why?" I replied.

"You had a look on your face."

"I was just thinking about what the future of this company is."

Rude gave me a look, obviously unamused.

"I'm totally serious," I told him, putting on my goggles. "Do you know why we're doing this?"

"Because we get paid."

"You know what I mean!" Rude shook his head. I fired a shot from the gun; it rang out with a clean sound, and the bullet smacked into Harry's left shoulder. My own shoulder seemed to throb with the memory of pain.

"I imagine they're for a mission of some kind," Rude finally said.

"You know our location in Fort Condor, where I was?" I lowered the gun, and Rude nodded, stepping up to test the next one. "There's a rival company there. I guess they've been trying to spy on us. Rufus thinks they may have infiltrated one of more of ShinRa's locations."

"You mean there are actual spies running about?" When I nodded, Rude fired the gun. "Just what we need: another bunch of maniacs."

"Hence the guns," I said.

^^vv^^vv^^

"Did you notice anything when you were there?" Rude asked Mae, who loaded the next gun. The red-head shrugged.

"Well, yeah," she replied, firing off a shot. It echoed in the quiet room. "Their facility was across the street from ours, and they would literally watch us through the windows. It was a pretty sketchy place in general, too."

Rude waited until Mae had shot off the rest of the bullets before continuing.

"They must be desperate," he said at last.

"D'y'think it might have something to do with Jenova?"

"Maybe."

"Now _that's_ a scary thought. The last thing we want is a Jenova-based research project from people who hate us."

"You got that right."

Rude fired off the gun, and Mae grinned.

"I like how that one sounds," she commented.

"Harry didn't," Rude said. The pair looked at their test dummy, whose stomach was now in shreds.

"Let's finish him off with a big one, then!" Mae exclaimed, skipping the next few and grabbing the biggest gun on the table.

"Back to the spies, first," Rude interrupted. Mae stopped her celebration abruptly and looked at Rude, face blank. "Do you think there were any where you worked?"

"If there had been, I wouldn't have known it," she replied, rolling her eyes. "They were probably equally suspicious of me, too, y'know."

"And here?"

"Man, I hope not. If they are, they've got the best seat in the house."

^^vv^^vv^^

I appreciated Rude's concern, truthfully, but I also really wanted to test out the fiiiiiine piece of metal in my hands.

"Why're you asking all this stuff for, Rude?" I asked, turning back to Harry, who was looking pretty pathetic. "Even if there's someone here, what we're doing now is the best bet, right?"

"I have my suspicions, Mae," he stated. I paused.

"And?"

"That's all I'm sayin'."

"You're no fun." Sighing in fake disgust, I loaded the mother-ship gun carefully.

"Let's talk about something else then." I rolled my eyes, looking through the eye piece. Yep. It was definitely one hell of a sniper. "Like, Annya?"

Rude had activated my trigger finger just by saying that chick's name. He noticed, too, because he let out this knowing chuckle.

"Don't worry, I can't stand her, either," he told me.

"There's just somethin' about her, Rude," I growled, shaking my head. "Something about her rubs me the wrong way entirely."

"Reno doesn't seem to notice."

"It'd be a miracle if he did. The guy's denser than ball bearings and you know it." I shook my head again. "I just don't like her. Something about her irritates me to madness."

"So, if we pretended Harry was Annya…"

The one flaw Rude has is that he knows my weaknesses. With his statement, as incomplete as it was, I fired off round after round at poor, helpless Harry. When the smoke had cleared, so to speak, his head was dangling by a few threads.

"…Glad I'm on your side," Rude said quietly.


	3. III: Your own death sentence

III: What happens when you announce your own death sentence

There's absolutely no denying that I am easily irritated. It doesn't take much to piss me off, but usually it's something I can get over in a while. I've explained all of this before. It takes a very special kind of situation or person to make me truly livid.

Unfortunately for her, Annya was one of those people.

She was a regular source of irritation as it was. As the days at ShinRa continued on, so did the days when I had to see her. She didn't fit in to begin with; every morning, she'd come into the break room like she owned the place or something. But nobody besides Reno would ever pay her a bit of attention. Had she not been such a snot-nosed bitch, I would have felt a little sorry for her.

But Annya brought a lot upon herself by her own actions. I know I'm the same; we're different because at least I can recognize when I do so.

The most obvious example came one day at work, of course. Now, because of the way that things had worked out with my job change, I was technically over Reno's head as far as rank went. He knew that, and he was surprisingly fine with it (though there was the occasional rumble). In the morning, he was supposed to head a communications operation with our base in Fort Condor, but by his fault, some things got pretty trashed and data may or may not have been lost in the process.

He apologized, and I will definitely give myself a pat on the back for keeping my temper low toward him.

"Do it again," was all that I said. Nothing more. Sure, it was in a pretty deep and threatening tone, but I knew and HE knew it could've have been so much worse, especially coming from me.

Regardless, Annya had been there at the time, as had the others. Three words were apparently enough to light a fuse in her book.

She was quick to approach me after work, literally right after I had clocked out. I figured she must've watched my every move in order to not lose track of me. Usually I jetted outta there pretty quickly and went right to the gym. But she caught me, fair and square.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked. I stopped in my tracks, staring at her.

"I'm sorry?" I said.

"You think you're so much better than everyone else here."

I couldn't help but laugh. "That's because I _am_."

She didn't reply to that, but instead continued on her rant as if I had never said a word.

"All you ever do is boss people around. You're not the boss. You're not Rufus. You're _under_ him. And you're an employee, just like me and Reno and everyone else."

"If this has anything to do with this morning," I cut in, "that's truly none of your business. Reno screwed up. Ask him yourself."

"You could have been less of a bitch about it. Aren't you his friend?"

"Yes, but I'm also in charge of his actions here."

"Well, as his _friend_, you should be a lot more _careful_ about his _feelings_."

"I'm sorry, but I think you have some confusion? Like I said, I'm his _friend_. If I were his _lover_, that would mean I take my pants off _for_ him. As his _friend_, I get to rip off _his_ pants and kick his ass when it's needed."

"If you really think that way, I hope you know that means you're a pretty awful friend."

^^vv^^vv^^

Rude only heard that last line of Annya's floating by on his way out of work, but he knew it involved Mae and he knew he should probably step in.

_This can't be good_, he thought when he saw Mae and Annya facing each other, the former's anger obvious even from afar.

"And what makes you think you know so much more about Reno, let alone _friendship_, than me?" he heard Mae growl.

"When was the last time you even _talked_ to Reno outside of work?" Annya scoffed.

"Good question-it was probably the last time your tongue wasn't down his throat!"

Annya gasped loudly, so Rude took the chance to step in.

"Mae-"

"This is none of your business, either, Rude," the red-head said quickly. Her eyes were burning with rage.

"She's insulting me, Rude!" Annya exclaimed, pointing at Mae like a little kid. "I didn't even do anything! She's just being jealous and hateful!"

"What are we, five year olds?!" Mae shouted. "Let's settle this like adults. Come with me."

Before either Annya or Rude could say a word, Mae snatched Annya's wrist and began to drag her away.

"Let go of me, you brute!" Annya cried, wrenching her hand away from Mae's grasp. "This is _exactly_ what I mean! You treat everyone as though they're dogs!"

"It's only you, and it's because you're acting like a BITCH!"

Unexpectedly, Annya's hand suddenly collided with Mae's cheek. The sound was one of a sharp snap; despite her lack of expression, Rude could tell it had hurt beyond just her pride. Mae said nothing in reply, just lowered her head a bit. Then, just as suddenly, she rammed her elbow into Annya's gut, sending the blonde flying back.

^^vv^^vv^^

Annya had pushed me to the edge and beyond with that slap. I was beyond that fight-or-flight shit; this was purely attack mode. Nobody slaps me. Not even my parents. To have some little slut try to take me on…well, it wasn't going to happen quite like she wanted.

After I had elbowed her, she tried to come back at me with her long, nasty nails. I was faster; stepping aside, I grabbed her hair as she passed, then pulled her back and whirled her around into the wall. She kicked at me, but I grabbed her leg and spun her away. I had to hand it to her-she was really putting up a hell of a fight. Never would've guessed her strength by just looking, that's for sure.

Again, Annya tried a rebound, but I had expected it. My arms were longer, and my fist met her face before hers met mine. The punch, while it wasn't my hardest by far, sent her little butt skidding across the carpet. Before she could get up and try something, I snatched her by the collar of her shirt and lifted her off the ground.

Who knows what I would've done next, but nothing happened. Reno's voice interrupted the scene.

"The hell's goin' on here?!" he shouted, stomping over. I put Annya back on her; she swayed like a drunkard, sporting a fresh black eye.

"Calm down, Reno," Rude said, but Reno shoved him aside and got up in my face.

"What just happened?" he demanded.

"Ask your mistress, ginger," I replied through clenched teeth. I was pissed that he would assume that _I_ was at fault, despite us being friends. "She said some regrettable things."

"And so that gives you permission to beat the shit out of her?"

"She started it! That's why I said to ASK _HER_."

Reno eyed me suspiciously, then looked at Rude. Rude said nothing, but he nodded once, and Reno turned to Annya. The second he made eye contact with her, she burst into crocodile tears and threw her arms around him. It took a good portion of my self-control not to dry heave at her act.

"…We'll talk later," Reno told me, sounding a bit more passive. I shrugged. What good was it going to do to talk if he wasn't going to listen? I could just tell.

"Man, Rude, I do _not_ like the looks of all this," I said quietly.

"I don't either, Mae. I don't either."


	4. IV: Pretty princess gets all the princes

IV: Pretty pretty princess gets all the princes, and other stupid fairy tales

After dropping off a very disgruntled Annya off at her apartment, Reno headed home, his head a mix of unsaid words. He trusted Mae-he really always had-but she was at fault for this, too.

"When the hell is she gonna grow up?" he muttered to himself as he walked through the front door. He shook his head slowly, thinking back to the things Annya had told him.

'_She's just jealous of me, I think_,' Annya had said. '_She seems like the type who's always wanting something but never saying so._'

It was true, Reno realized as he flopped down on his couch. Whenever Mae wanted something, she got it without having to do or say much to get it. She'd been like that as long as Reno could remember. And if it was working for her, why should she change? He understood that kind of logic.

But the situation was spiraling out of control very quickly, and if Mae was wanting something, Reno hadn't a clue what it was. _Was_ she jealous? Maybe, but Reno figured there had to be more to it than just that. Mae wasn't so simple like most girls; she was never easily satisfied.

_It's not like I've abandoned her as a friend or anything_, Reno thought. _So what is she up to? Does Rude even know?_

Reno pulled out his cell phone to call Rude, but he hesitated.

_How do I even begin this kind of conversation, anyway_?!

^^vv^^vv^^

_And to think, I hadn't picked up a cigarette since moving back here._

Sighing, I leaned against the balcony outside of my front door, overlooking the night view of Edge. I was beyond just stressed. I was genuinely tired. As willing as I always am to fight back, it eventually wears me out.

"She won't last long," Rude told me. I nodded in agreement. "Rufus hates whiners."

"Yeah, she's got the wine and the cheese to match," I replied. "And, apparently, some kind of mind poison mixed in."

"That's how whores work."

"And you know this _how_?" When Rude fell silent, I let out a laugh. It felt good. That was how my life was supposed to be-fun. Not with this much stress.

I was about to let loose another comment when I heard a plinking sound. Rude heard it, too, and he pulled out his cell phone.

"It's someone from your most wanted list," he said, showing me the screen. Reno was calling, probably about me.

"Go ahead and answer if you want," I said, rolling my eyes. "By all means. Don't let me stop you."

Rude answered.

"Reno… Yeah… She's actually here with me. You wanna talk to her?" Well. Called _that_, didn't I? "All right, I'll tell her."

Rude hung up, looking at me.

"He's coming to talk to you," he stated. I sighed, taking another puff from my cigarette.

"You'd better get going, for your own sake," I muttered.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

Rude left without another word, and literally a minute later, Reno came around the opposite corner. He didn't look mad, but he didn't look happy. Just stressed. I could kinda understand that, but I didn't pity him at all.

"Let's talk," he said, standing next to me.

"Hello to you, too," I said, blowing smoke into the night air. "Go ahead and say what you need to. For once, I'll listen."

^^vv^^vv^^

Reno almost turned around and walked off after Mae's sarcastic reply, but he stopped himself. After all, Mae was one of his closest friends. He didn't want to lose the friendship he had with her, but something had to change.

"Don't start off being all pissed at me," he said, trying to keep his cool. "I want to talk to you."

"And I said, go ahead. I'll listen," Mae replied, raising an eyebrow at him. Her eyes seemed icier than usual. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Why'd you attack Annya today?"

"Though the temptation is often great, I didn't attack her. It was out of self-defense."

"Care to explain?"

Mae then told Reno of the events that afternoon, what Annya had said, and how she had responded. Reno wasn't surprised that the confrontation itself had happened, but he was a little surprised that it revolved around him.

"She really got that defensive of me?" he asked. Mae nodded, taking another drag of her cigarette. "That's…unusual."

"You really think so? Tch. Well, in case you've yet to notice, she's obsessed with you."

There was a strange tone of bitterness to Mae's voice that brought Annya's words back to Reno's mind.

"Are you…jealous?" he asked.

"Jealous?" she repeated, as if the word was a new concept entirely.

"Yeah. Are you jealous that she's my girlfriend?"

"Not at all," Mae answered, looking Reno in the eye. "You're allowed to date who you want. If you dated Rude, I wouldn't even care." She paused, looking away. "I guess I'm jealous that you suddenly replaced me with her."

"Replaced? Is that what this is all about?"

"Yes, it is." Mae straightened up but kept her gaze at the night sky. "I understand why you did it. But I'm back now. You can stop playing games."

"I'm not playing any games, Mae," Reno said, getting a little angry. Her attitude was completely messed up. It was as if she thought that things could return to exactly what they were before she left Edge. "You need to grow up and realize things changed while you were gone, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"I'm not denying that things changed when I was gone, and that not everything can be the same. I don't like it, but I know that." Mae's eyes finally met Reno's again with a clash of energy. "Don't act like you're smarter than me."

^^vv^^vv^^

"Then what is it that you want?!" Reno shouted. I could tell he was getting frustrated, but so was I. It was his own fault. He was putting words into my mouth and assuming things he shouldn't have assumed.

"I want you to respect me like you used to, as your friend!" I exclaimed.

"I do!"

"No, you don't!" I let out a laugh; it didn't even sound like myself. "You have more respect for some chick you've only known for a few months than me, a person who's saved your ass multiple times! I left because I couldn't stand seeing you miserable, but now I'm wondering if I should've come back at all."

"I respect both of you!"

"Don't lie, Reno. I shouldn't have to crawl in bed with you for your respect."

That last line slipped out before I could stop it. Reno's face went pallid, then red with rage. I felt mine do the same, and it took a lot for me not to slam my dwindling cigarette in his face.

"I can't stand you," we both said at the same time, and I felt myself turn around and walk away.

^^vv^^vv^^

The next day at work was a tense one, only worsened when Mae entered Rufus' office to find Reno already sitting by his desk. Her gaze sharpened upon seeing him, and he pretended he hadn't even seen her at all.

"What's going on?" Mae asked.

"Have a seat," Rufus said briskly.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do anything," she muttered, plopping down in the chair.

The door behind her squeaked, and she turned to see Rude walking in. Immediately she felt relaxed at the idea of having someone on her side.

"Not yet, you haven't," Rufus replied. "I need the three of you out of here early today."

"Huh?" Reno raised his eyebrows in confusion. "We gettin' canned or somethin'?"

"No, not yet."

The idea clicked in Mae's mind in seconds.  
"We're going out on recon, aren't we?" she said. Rufus nodded.

"Recon?" Reno echoed. "Where?"

"Fort Condor," Rude answered for the boss.

"You're leaving this afternoon. I'll have the proper equipment ready for you in the garage," Rufus explained. "If you time it right, you should make it there at nightfall. You'll be going to their warehouse area, just to take a look around."

"That place gives me the creeps," Mae said, crossing her arms. "If they shoot at us, I'm shooting back."

"By all means, don't hesitate to protect yourselves if necessary. And with the information we've gathered so far, I believe it will be necessary."


	5. V: Don't touch me

V: Don't touch me

That morning went by just as quickly as I knew it would, but quicker that I had hoped. I knew that this mission would be intense and dangerous to my physical being. However, I was considerably more worried about the metaphysical damage I might incur being with Reno that long. After all, things were not any better. At best, they'd stayed the same.

But the good thing that came out of all of this was that I finally would get to find out something interesting. I'll get to it.

I was the last one to the garage; surprisingly, there seemed to be no tension between Reno and Rude. As relieving as that was, when I came into the room, neither one said a word to me, and I immediately knew some kind of conversation had occurred between them. And I was the subject.

_Not only am I above this, but I'm beyond it,_ I thought, clearing my throat.

"Sorry to keep you…waiting," I said. "Shall we?"

"We shall," Reno replied, Rude nodding with him in agreement.

_Hm. Maybe he's trying to be, too_.

I was all for letting a bad conversation go like it'd never happened. Figured that was what he was trying to do. He was the one who had initiated the conversation the previous night. To me, that revealed that _he_ wanted things to go back to the way that they were supposed to be as badly as I did. But there was something in the way, and it was, unfortunately, a living human being. And it could speak for itself. Those are the worst kind.

It was obvious there was still something wrong when the three of us walked over to our chosen weaponry without a single joke cracked.

_Maybe we're all just thinking_, I told myself, shaking my head a little as I grabbed my gun. I recognized it from one of my many testing rounds, and the familiarity put me at a little bit more ease. Then, as if to lighten the mood further, Rude sat down on the giant motorbike nearby and patted the seats behind him.

"C'mon, kiddies," he said. I couldn't help but laugh; the tension level called for it.

^^vv^^vv^^

Reno was shocked. Not at what they were riding, or at what they were armed with. He was shocked that Mae hadn't brought up a single harsh thing so far.

_There's just gonna be something, though_, he thought, sighing through his nose as he sat behind Rude. _Something that pushes her over the edge_.

Reno said nothing as Mae sat down behind him without protest.

"You good?" he asked Mae, who nodded. Pursing his lips, Reno grabbed her arms and placed them around his waist. He then took a hold of Rude. "Let's go."

The bike started up with a ferocious roar; it sounded more like an animal than a piece of metal. Regardless, Rude opened the garage door, and in seconds they were flying down out of ShinRa and through the streets of Edge.

With his free hand, Reno lowered his goggles over his eyes. They were traveling fast, probably faster than what was legal. But this was important, and the sooner they got to Fort Condor, the sooner they could move on with the job.

This was all somewhat new to him, anyway. From what Rude had told him earlier, Rufus had been planning on an operation in Fort Condor for some time. That was why he let Mae go there in the first place. It made sense-there was really no better way to subtly execute recon. But it was time to get out of subtlety.

Rude had also mentioned the possibility of a spy in ShinRa. At that comment, Reno couldn't help but be suspicious of Annya. The timing was off, and at times she did things that were out of nervous tension. Either she'd had a rough past, or she was lying about something.

"You can't trust her as far as you can throw her, it seems," Rude had said. Admittedly, he spoke accurately, but Reno decided it'd be best if they dropped the topic. If Mae knew, she'd stop at nothing to end Annya, possibly permanently. Even if Annya was a spy, Reno still was attracted to her. He couldn't completely help _that_.

Suddenly another vehicle flew past them; Reno looked hard to see not a cop car, but another motorcycle. It was of a more normal size than the one they were riding, but the person riding it did not look like the everyday civilian.

"Watch 'im close, Reno. He's been trailing us for a mile now," Mae murmured in Reno's ear. The latter nodded, passing the message on to Rude.

^^vv^^vv^^

That insolent punk thought he could get away with following us like that? Nope, not in my house.

Before I could even think upon a course of action, another bike of the same size and style zoomed past us. The person on it was dressed in the same manner as the other, and then it clicked for me.

"They're from Fort Condor," I whispered to Reno.

"You sayin' they knew we were coming?!" he replied.

"Unless this is just coincidence…"

Suddenly interrupting our conversation, the sound of a gun rang through the air, and a bullet whizzed by us.

"…Which I'm gonna say, it's not," I finished, pulling out my own gun.

"Rude, pull off into that tunnel," Reno commanded, pointing ahead on the road to a covered exit. Rude nodded, and soon we were engulfed in the darkness of the tunnel. The lights became blurs as we raced along.

"Look," Reno said.

Ahead of us, probably about halfway down that tunnel, were two more bikers.

"They knew," I growled. Without even thinking, I stood up and fired. They wanted to stop us? Please. We stop it before they could even start.

My shot missed, mostly because we were still flying along as were they, and everything was just a dark blur. I sat back down quickly, realizing that we'd have to be pretty sneaky to get them in range.

"Keep driving!" I shouted as Reno got his own gun out.

"Man, why didn't we get any grenades!?" Reno complained.

"I doubt Rufus knew this would happen," Rude responded.

"Even if he did, two words: budget cuts," I added, smirking.

Soon I could see the blinding headlights of the opponents just ahead of us. They weren't firing-not yet. Probably waiting to do the same thing we were doing.

"I got this," I said to myself, and as I leaned past Reno, I fired three more rounds.

I knew I had hit something when one of the headlights suddenly started spiraling. Whether it was the bike or the person, I had yet to find out, but it was a start, to be sure.

Reno joined me in firing at the wanker on the weaker bike, and after a few more rounds, I finally heard a human sound-one of pain.

_Got him_, I thought, standing once again.

^^vv^^vv^^

Reno saw the bike hit the wall of tunnel, he saw the sparks from metal against metal, but he didn't see Mae behind him make a jump for said bike until she had already landed.

"Hey!" he shouted. A bullet zoomed by his face right after, in the opposite direction the others had been coming from.

"They caught up," Rude said. It took Reno a moment, but he soon realized that Rude was talking about the couple they had encountered earlier.

"What the hell is Mae doing?!" Reno whispered to himself, squinting through the darkness. They had long passed that bike, and now three more headlights were chasing them on the road. One was slightly ahead of the others and was gaining fast.

"Ya miss me?"

Her ponytail whipping around behind her, Mae pulled up alongside Reno and Rude. There didn't need to be good lighting to tell she was smirking.

"Get to work," she said. She didn't have to say anything else; they were all on the same page, like how it used to be. Scooting backward, Mae made room for Reno to jump on in front of her. As soon as his grip on the handles had settled, Mae stood once again, placing one foot on her bike and another on Rude's. Shots rang out in both directions as she fired from a gun in each hand.

Minutes later, they exited the tunnel into the fading daylight; nobody was chasing them anymore.

"Stop," Mae commanded. "We got 'em."

The bikes slowed down, and Mae hopped off onto the pavement. The streets were strangely quiet around them.

"They knew we were coming," Mae said. "I feel like there's no reason to go to Fort Condor at all now."

"What do you mean?" Reno asked, crossing his arms.

"I recognized their style of dress. They're from Aragaki," she explained, leaning against Rude's bike. "And it's likely they knew who we were, too."

"We're still in uniform," Rude pointed out. Reno nodded slowly, as if understanding their point.

"There's nothing left to prove," he said, and the other two nodded. "Well, I'm all for getting outta here. Let's go."


	6. VI: Standing room only on the nice list

VI: Standing room only on the nice list

After being attacked like that, to me, it was obvious those jerks knew we were coming. Not necessarily us three, specifically, though I suppose that could've been true. But just the fact that ShinRa was sending intel their way definitely would've driven Aragaki Industries to send reinforcements.

In order for the fools at Aragaki to have received that information in the first place, though, required that there was someone on _our_ end that let it slip, or just straight-up told them. My first bet, my _only_ bet, was Annya. I mean, seriously, who else could it have been?

Her whole appearance into the scene was suspicious. She just suddenly shows up with the skills to replace me? Unlikely enough as that is, add in the fact that she basically trails Reno, and the shoe fits. I just had to prove that she was wearing it, so to speak.

I couldn't quite place her motive. If she was spying on ShinRa, why was she using _Reno_? Why not me or Rude, or better yet, Tseng? If she was looking for someone close to Rufus, she wasn't too far off, but Reno's motivation in the workplace was significantly different than that in his leisure, as was the way he treated Rufus and vice versa.

I had to be sneaky if I wanted my proof. I wasn't going to tell anyone. Not a soul. Otherwise, I might blow my cover, even by accident. Besides, if I messed up, it'd be on only my head this way. …Not that I planned on messing up.

Getting proof meant getting closer to Annya, and getting closer to Annya meant apologizing and trying to be nice, or at least civil. It was easier than I had expected.

"Aw, I'm sorry, too," she said, giving me a shy smile that would've better suited someone ten years younger. "Let's just pretend it never happened, OK?"

"Sounds good to me," I said, holding out my hand. She hesitated. "What?"

"Sorry." She giggled through her nose; again, with the charm of a preteen. "I just thought you might be lying and send me through a wall."

_Not this time_, I thought as we shook hands. _Not just yet_.

She would get hers, I knew that much. The when's and where's were still cloudy, but I had my ways, and all of those ways were effective.

^^vv^^vv^^

Mae never found any real use for wearing a coat, but that particular winter was a particularly bitter one. It wasn't cold enough to snow during the day, but at night, sleet would fall, and soon Mae's leather jacket wasn't enough. This alone gave her the excuse to walk into the coat room.

Though it was out of her way, the situation itself actually became one of convenience. Just a week after being attacked on the job, Mae was making her way down to the coat room, only to hear a familiar voice coming from said room.

"Look, I'm doing the best that I can here," came Annya's nasal voice.

Mae's first instinct was to keep walking, but when there was no audible reply, she slowed her pace and hugged the wall. It was a phone conversation, and it could be with anyone.

"Well they ARE better than us," she continued, her voice echoing somewhat in the quiet hall. "They obviously know what they're doing. They send their best people out every single time."

_Surely it can't be this easy_, Mae thought, listening closely.

"…I know, I know. I'm doing what I can. But this guy isn't cracking." Annya sighed loudly, sounding genuinely discouraged. "I don't think he really knows anything. I mean, he's not untalented, but he doesn't seem that close to Rufus. … … …Well, whatever. Like I said, I'm doing what I can. They seem to trust me."

"Bitch," Mae mouthed to herself. It was obvious now; Annya was doing recon. And if Mae's assumption was correct, she was under the authority of Aragaki Industries.

"I won't disappoint you," Annya said, suddenly sounding desperate. "You know this means a lot to me, too, don't you? This is our future on the line. I can't think of… … …I know. I'm taking it seriously, I promise. But I miss you. I miss you terribly. …Look, I have to go before someone comes in here. … …Yeah, I'm still here!" She giggled. "I work, y'know… …Yeah, I know. I love you, too. Talk to you later."

"_Bitch_." Mae gritted her teeth as Annya's voice faded out from her mind. It was one thing to spy on the company that Mae owed her allegiance to, but to use one of her best friends? Not gonna happen. "Not in my house."

Mae straightened herself up, trying to regain a calm composure. Slowly, she walked into the coat room to find Annya slipping on a fur coat.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "You startled me! It's soooo creepy back here!"

"Yep, lots of worms back here," Mae replied, walking over to her own coat.

"Ewww, that sounds terrible! Maybe we should petition to get a new location for it!" Annya laughed and waved her hand. "Well, winter's almost over anyway! Just like today! Seeee you later!"

"Uh-huh, take care," Mae mumbled as Annya practically frolicked out of the room.

^^vv^^vv^^

And there it was. My gold star. My manna of salvation.

Now the trick was to get her to admit it, to spill it in front of someone else. The easiest target was Reno. As much as I knew I had been bothering him, I felt that _he_, more than anyone, had the right to know what was going on. After all, this involved his personal life, too. I knew that the moment she let it slip, it would be over.

But that moment didn't seem to want to present itself. I couldn't seem to get her in a trap, and I started to wonder if she hadn't caught on to me, and was a step ahead of me the whole time. After a while, I had no choice: I had to tell someone.

I decided to bring the burden to Rude first. I was still hooked on the idea of Annya slipping up in front of Reno, so that I didn't have to be the bearer of bad news, and also it would spare my conscience. As usual, Rude was in agreement with me, but neither of us had any idea on how to get her to slip up-at least, not at first. The idea presented itself to me on a Friday night after work. Elena and I had agreed to go out for dinner, and as we were walking back to the parking garage, a drunkard stumbled across our path. She was giggling and drooling and was really quite pathetic, and I felt a little bit sorry for her, but she gave me an idea.

The plan was simple: I was to invite Reno and Annya over to Rude's place for a few drinks and a card game or two. Annya would get the hardest drink, and that would've been enough to let her get a little too comfortable. It seemed flawless.

Of course, nothing ever goes as we want, especially if _I_ want it.

I met Rude at his apartment, and I chose myself as volunteer to send the invite. It was just a short walk to Reno's apartment, literally just a minute. But before I made it around the corner to his side of the building, I heard two familiar voices. I immediately halted and pressed myself against the wall, slowly looking around the corner.

I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, because they were speaking quietly and were several feet away from me, but I could see that it was Reno and Annya. He appeared to be consoling her, and she was clinging to him. Something about the whole thing pissed me off. If he had known the truth at that moment, if I had just run into the scene and shouted at them, would that have fixed things?

I'll never know, because the moment their lips met, I turned and headed back to Rude's. Reno's bias toward Annya was obviously too strong to hear anything reasonable, even from his best friends. She already had him wrapped around her finger, and there was nothing we could do.


	7. VII: Slick words and loose lips

VII: Slick words and loose lips

The next day at ShinRa, every employee was called into the large conference room on the top floor. There wasn't even enough seating for everyone, and nobody knew what the occasion was. Before speculation could escalate beyond control, Rufus entered the room and stood behind his desk; Mae and Rude followed him in.

"All right, let's make this quick and to the point," Rufus said. The room quieted down as he spoke. "This involves everybody here, even if you aren't required to do anything, so listen well."

He waited until the murmurs dropped to a hush before continuing.

"It has come to my attention that a rival company has the intention of bringing our company down," he said, and a few cocky snickers flew through the room. "You laugh, but I have reason to believe that Aragaki Industries has gone so far as to bring a spy into the company. That's right-someone in this room is a traitor."

Mae and Rude exchanged looks of dissatisfaction as Annya played along, shrugging her shoulders and acting as innocent and dumb as possible without drawing too much attention to herself.

"Now, before you all get into panic mode and start pointing fingers, I will tell you this: I have already devised a plan to nip this in the butt before things get too serious. As I mentioned, this plan does not involve all of you-just a select few. But I think it is important that we all are aware of what is about to happen.

"Tomorrow night, a few from our team will be going to Aragaki Industries in Fort Condor to infiltrate and, simply put, teach Aragaki not to mess with ShinRa."

A low murmur built back up as Rufus smiled proudly.

"Assuming that we are successful, things will continue on as expected," he continued, looking over the crowd. "However, if something should go terribly wrong, I will alert you all as to our next plan of attack." Inhaling deeply, Rufus' smile broadened, a hint of smugness about it. "But I highly doubt there will be any problems. That is all for today; you are dismissed."

The murmur turned to a dull roar as the various employees filed out, theories flying around and about. When the room cleared, the only ones left were Mae, Rude, and Rufus.

^^vv^^vv^^

"She's going to spill that, you know," Rude said as Rufus sat down. I kept silent; surely Rufus'd had a reason to make such an announcement out of what was supposed to be a private mission.

"I do know," Rufus replied, grinning more to himself than to us. "That's the point, actually. I want them to know. I want them to be ready; if they are, it only proves that she's the spy, and there are all kinds of directions we can go with that."

"Except if they know, they're going to prepare for us," I pointed out. "Which makes our job even tougher."

"Which is why you're going tonight."

This was news. "Come again, boss?"

"You two, Reno, Elena, Tseng, and Annya herself will go to Fort Condor tonight. This way, you still have the edge, and Annya will have let them know by then."

"I'm assuming you want this to be kept quiet," Rude said.

"Of course. I'll handle notifying the rest of them later today. And I'll have Reno make sure Annya doesn't get the chance to pass it on."

I couldn't even help myself; I let out a loud snort of disbelief, so perfectly timed that even Rufus chuckled.

"You don't think he will?"

"No," Rude answered for me.

"She _definitely_ wears the pants in that relationship," I added. "If anything, she might try to guilt him onto her side."

"Is that so…"

Rufus let out another chuckle, but it didn't sound as amused this time.

"Don't worry about it. I'll make sure tonight goes as we planned."

I trusted Rufus, but there was something about the situation that definitely had me uneasy. When I looked at Rude, I could tell he was thinking the same thing. Maybe it was that Annya was in charge of our fates that night. Not my first choice.

^^vv^^vv^^

Her heart pounding in anticipation, Annya waited outside of Rufus' office for Reno, and also for her own turn inside. Though she had already alerted her husband as to what was supposed to happen, she still felt nervous about it. She knew that these people that Rufus had chosen were the strongest and cleverest. Would Aragaki be able to match them?

_Well, I guess there's only one way to find out_, she thought, sighing quietly.

Suddenly the door to Rufus' office flew open, and Reno walked out, looking a bit disgruntled.

"What did he say?" Annya asked in a whisper. Reno just shook his head.

"You'll hear it for yourself," he replied, jabbing at the door with his thumb. "You're up."

Hesitating, Annya looked at the doorway again. Such a thing had never seemed so menacing in her life, but she knew what she had to do. Pocketing her cell phone, she slowly walked through the door.

Inside, Rufus was sitting at his desk, going through paperwork, seeming calm and collected. Mae and Rude stood on either side of him, stone-faced and serious. Annya's nerves threatened to get the better of her.

"Don't be so shy," Rufus said, not looking up. "Have a seat somewhere."

"Yessir," she replied, sitting down across from him. He didn't address her right away, but instead finished his paperwork. His silence made her even more nervous.

_Why did I have to volunteer myself for this_? she thought, frowning. Though Mae and Rude were there, they didn't seem the least bit friendly. Clenching her fists, Annya sat with her teeth gritted and lips pursed shut for several minutes.

"Sorry about that," Rufus said at last, setting his pen down. "Now, Annya, do you know why I've called you in here?"

"No, sir," she answered, shaking her head. Rufus smiled, and the tension in her hands settled a bit.

"No need to be so formal. Regardless, this is an important task. I hope you're up to it, because I'm not going to give you much of a choice." Rufus' smile faded. "Tonight, you, along with a select team, will be sent to Fort Condor to eliminate the possibility of any threat."

Annya said nothing, but inside she was in full panic.

"Tonight? Not tomorrow?" she said as calmly as she could.

"That is correct."

"I…see. Well, all right." Holding her head high, Annya nodded a bit. "I'll be there."

"Hold on just a moment." Rufus held Annya's gaze. "I need something else from you. Do you mind staying here this afternoon? Of course, I will provide you with dinner myself this evening before your mission-my treat."

Annya bit her bottom lip; it was then that she realized that Rufus had caught on. She had been found out.

What was her best move? She had to think quickly. If she refused his offer, it might put her in greater jeopardy, but staying wouldn't allow her to contact her companions back home. Staying meant risking their lives for hers.

"…That's fine," Annya finally replied, her stomach sinking. In the end, staying would probably better, and she might be able to sneak at least one text to her husband. She had to try.

"Glad to hear it," Rufus said, the smile reappearing on his face.

^^vv^^vv^^

"Why is he keeping Annya here?"

Even though that question came from behind, I knew Reno's eyes must have been screaming with irritation and impatience. I knew the feeling, but I had no sympathy.

"You know, so tell me," he added, calming down a bit.

"Even if I could, why should I?" I replied, turning around. "Who says you'd believe me if I told you?"

"Because you're my friend."

"No, because I'm convenient. You don't have to pretend on that."

"I'm not pretending-you're running away!"

"Look, we can stand here and accuse each other of our faults all day, but it's not going to change a damn thing. She's staying here, and if you have a problem with it, ask Rufus." I let out a laugh. "Better yet, ask Annya herself."

"A year ago you would've told me."

"A year ago I knew you were on my side," I pointed out. "Now I'm not so sure. You're either completely blinded by self-interest, or even dumber than I thought."

Before he could throw anything back, I walked away. I didn't want to waste any more of my time.

Reno, though probably king of bad decisions and judgment calls, was not and is not dumb. At least, he isn't so dumb as to know when something in the scene does not belong. I think he knew; I'd like to think he wasn't completely unaware of Annya's intentions; I'd like to think he could put two and two together. However, he's just like me: once the situation is how he wants it, he won't let go until you rip his hands off of it. I know that feeling.

And so here we were, about to rip his hands off of it. But it was for his own good, along with ours.


	8. VIII: The devil's game of hide and seek

VIII: The devil's game of hide and seek

I will begin my description of what happened to me next by stating the following: though I am harsh, though I am impatient, though I may have ulterior motives, though I may be terrible at communicating my feelings, and though you may think differently, I am, deep down, a good person.

We rode to Fort Condor in the dead of night, and this time there were no surprises along the way. I rode with Tseng, while Elena tagged along with Rude (much to his delight), and Annya clung to Reno. The ride there was quiet and dark, save for the occasional headlights passing by us, headed toward Edge. No assassins were hiding out this time; I like to think that the first match showed them their place.

In a funny sort of irony, we ended up parking our bikes in the ShinRa building across the street. To me, it seemed almost like a bitch move-uh, hi there, we're gonna take your company apart, and we're gonna take our time doing it-that kind of feeling.

The six of us hurried across the street; Rude and I led the way, and Annya had to be dragged along by Reno. Though it made me a little suspicious, I didn't think about it too hard at the time. My mistake.

With Tseng's help, we easily broke down the gates to the warehouse area. But before anyone could charge in, I saw Annya go flying to the ground.

"Bitch!" came Reno's voice. Surprised, I couldn't help but turn around and give him a look. Not that I didn't agree or anything, but whatever had brought that out of him, of all people?

^^vv^^vv^^

"Man, I shoulda known!" Reno growled, his rage building by the moment. He could feel all eyes on him, waiting for an explanation. As much as he wanted it to be a lie, he knew the truth for certain now. "_She's_ the spy!"

"And so we finally all reach the same page," Elena said, sighing and shaking her head.

"But I-"

"I just saw her texting on her phone-" Reno gritted his teeth before continuing. He hadn't been this enraged in a long time. "Her _husband_ is Aragaki himself!"

"Well, this makes it a little more interesting," Tseng stated. "Get up, Annya. We'll let you lead the way."

But Annya stayed on the ground, eyes squinted shut.

"Get _up_!" Reno shouted.

"Hush, someone'll hear you," Mae said quickly, her voice low. Reno didn't say anything back to her-he knew that if he did, she'd just rub his mistakes in his face. He didn't want that now; he knew he deserved it, but he wanted Annya taken care of first. So instead, he knelt down next to Annya and picked her up by her long blonde hair.

"I said, get up," he said more quietly this time, making her look him in the face. Her eyes opened, a look of true fear in them.

"Reno…I'm sorry," she whispered.

Before he could respond, a gunshot rang out. It startled Reno and the others so badly that they scattered just in time; the bullet clanged against the concrete flooring by where Reno's feet had been just moments before.

"Split up!" Rude ordered, and the Turks went running, leaving Annya behind.

^^vv^^vv^^

So the truth was finally out. As much as I wanted to celebrate the fact that my best friend was no longer in the clutches of a skank, there were more important things I had to do. In the moment that gun had been fired, it became obvious to me that Aragaki had been alerted to our change of plans. No thanks to Annya, probably.

The warehouse was just as creepy from the inside as it was outside, if not more so, since we were being stalked by angry/desperate gunners. There were lots of shadows and corners for a person to hide in, and had it been familiar territory, I would have been pretty confident. But even I had never been in here before; we were at an obvious disadvantage.

Still, I _was_ getting paid, and so my motivation to do my job had not changed despite the increased threat on my life.

Trying to be as quiet as the night air and echoing pavement allowed, I crept along the edge of garage after garage, bounding from shadow to shadow as quickly as I could. Even if I was the only one who got from start to finish, I knew it would be enough.

Every so often, I'd see a figure, and so I would crouch down, putting myself out of sight. If I had been alone, I would have shot each one down upon contact. But, from as far away as I was, there was no way to tell who was who unless I got closer, and I wasn't risking it. And I only had so many bullets.

The air was pretty quiet; I wasn't hearing a lot of firing going on. Every few minutes, there'd be a shot, like a warning shot, but then it would get quiet again. I knew it wouldn't last, and I was right.

Who knows how long I had been sneaking around, but finally I caught sight of Annya again. She was walking slowly, almost trance-like, in the open moonlight. Taking my chances, I ran over to her. Startled, she reached for her gun, but I'd had mine out, and she lowered her hand.

"What do you want from me?" she asked weakly, seeming all but defeated.

"Make this easier on yourself and take me to your husband," I demanded. "We can end it more quickly that way."

She hesitated, and I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes. After a few seconds, she nodded, and I pulled her against the side of the nearest garage cell. Together, we crept along in the shadows, and as promised, she kept close to me.

Suddenly, a man ran right out in front of us, literally just a yard or so away. And of course, he saw us moving and fired twice.

I don't know if the choice was entirely conscious, but my instincts told my arms to push Annya to the side, then reach for my gun. And I did just that, but by the time my hand had settled on my gun, I felt a searing pain in my left ear. It felt warm even just on the side of my head, but before I could reach up to it, I felt a feeling even more familiar-the second bullet sunk into my left shoulder, right into my old wound.

^^vv^^vv^^

Reno had heard gunfire from nearby, just a couple of shots, but it was the first time voices had been added to the mix. He heard a girl screaming, and a man shouting, and then two more shots in reply. The first voice was either Elena or Annya, and though he felt no desire to help the latter, he felt obligated to check out the scene, just in case it was Elena in a struggle. Rude would never let him live it down otherwise.

Running as fast as he could, Reno headed toward the scene, and when he arrived, he was stunned to find something quite different than he had expected. Annya was on the ground, her hands covering her ears but her eyes looking up at Mae. The red-head was standing still, but the left side of her neck was soaked in her own blood. She was holding out her gun with her right hand, and the tip was still smoking. Her shots had hit a man, presumably the one who shouted earlier. There was no doubt he was dead.

"Mae," Reno said in a voice loud enough that she could hear. Her face was contorted into a grimace; her eyes were squinted so much that they were almost closed. "What happened?"

She didn't answer, and it took Reno a minute to notice the blood coming from Mae's shoulder. One of her knees buckled, and soon the other one. He could tell she was fighting the pain.

"Mae!?"

"…Got 'im," she said, her grimace turning into a crooked smile.

"You _killed him_," Annya gasped, her face covered in tears.

"That's not your-"

"No, but…my friend…" Annya shook her head. "How did this happen…?"

"Because of you," Reno replied stiffly. Annya started to speak, but just then, another figure appeared, this time a ways back, behind Mae and facing Reno. The latter pulled out his gun, and his finger had just pulled the trigger when the other man fired his own. In the split-second before the bullet was to hit its target-an already worn-down Mae-Reno stepped out as if to block it, and the bullet grazed the side of his pants and clinked against the ground, literally millimeters from Mae's back.

Reno's bullet was more fortunate; it hit its target head-on.

"Reno!"

The red-head turned to see Rude standing there, holding a man by the arm. Annya gasped.

"No, please," she whimpered as Rude put a gun to the man's head. "Please."

Reno, assessing the situation quickly, put his own gun to Annya's head. The man's eyes widened, and their questions were answered.

"Hello, Mr. Aragaki," Reno said, a familiar smirk appearing on his lips. "We're here to take your company."


	9. IX: And the rest is

IX: And the rest is

MEMO: Hello, everyone! [My Color, Our Style] is at its end, sadly. I know it's not as popular as what I've done in the past, but I thank those of you who have read it! You know I appreciate any feedback. Anyway, soon I will be going to Japan, and I have NO IDEA what my internet connection will be like, so I am going to play it safe and say that updates will come in LATE NOVEMBER AT THE EARLIEST. I will be busy, most likely, but I most definitely want to keep writing, and I still have projects lined up! So, after [MCOS] is over, I will be taking a break from posting. Thank you so much for your continued support, and please look forward to the next project! (EH)

I got lucky.

That guy who had shot me had indeed shot me right in the old wound, but he was using normal bullets; that hadn't happened the first time. It took a while to heal, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Granted, that shoulder was never the same after that.

My ear lost its lobe, and maybe to a girl who wears earrings, that was a loss. But to me, it was just a slight imbalance on my head. Elena offered to shoot off the other one to make it even. Due to the already hefty hospital bill, I told her I'd pass.

The doc who worked on my shoulder told me to take it easy, to stay at home and rest from work and stuff for a couple of weeks until I had my full range of motion back (as much as I would ever have it). Wanna know how long that lasted? About fifty hours. I was surprised it lasted _that_ long, to be honest.

It wasn't _all_ my fault, though. If you remember me mentioning it earlier, ShinRa was having an awards ceremony, and I had to go and look nice. This was the one time of year I'd ever be caught dead in a dress. However, this year, I wore a leather jacket over it to cover the unsightly shoulder wound.

Of course, Reno, Rude, and all of the others were there. There was a lot of food and alcohol. And there was no Annya. All seemed to be back in its natural order.

"You're not wearing a suit!?" Elena cried upon seeing me. She looked very nice as well, bright-eyed as usual. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should be," I muttered, rolling my eyes. "I just didn't have the time to get one, y'know?"

"There's always next year," she joked, and I couldn't help but crack a smile.

^^vv^^vv^^

"We always save this award for last, don't we?" Rufus said from his microphone stand, and a few chuckles fluttered through the hall. Mae, Rude, and Reno had opted for seating by the bar in the back of the hall, and they exchanged unamused looks. They were bored, even though all three of them had received a special award for their mission at Fort Condor.

"Anyway, the coveted Employee of the Month award goes to someone who got pushed around by me a lot this year, figuratively speaking. But this person fulfilled every request, and so deserves this award."

"That's a lotta cash," Reno said quietly. Rude nodded.

"Bet our checks get taxed for it," Mae added, grimacing.

"And so, for continued outstanding performance in this company, I would like to welcome Mae Whitman to the stage."

Startled, Mae's eyes widened as she stumbled off of her seat. Elena, sitting off to the side, immediately whirled around and grinned.

"I'll be damned," Mae heard Reno and Rude say in unison behind her.

"YOU KICK ASS!" Elena shouted from her seat over the applause. Tseng immediately covered his face in embarrassment as Mae continued the long walk up to the stage.

"Well?" Rufus said when she finally reached the podium. "Is there anything you'd like to say? Surely you knew this was coming."

"Actually, I honestly forgot all about it," Mae admitted, uncharacteristically shy.

"Either way, anything." Rufus gestured to the microphone as he handed her the award with the other hand.

"Uhhhhh." Slowly she stepped up to it, her leather boots clunking a bit. "Well…it's been a hell of a year, for starters. I do feel like I really had to work hard this year. It was a challenge." Back to normal with an audience in front of her, Mae smirked broadly. "But I welcome challenges. Aragaki Industries can kiss my ass! Here's to another great year!"

Her last words brought out energy at last from her co-workers, and Mae shook Rufus' hand once, still smirking. He smirked back, and as she walked back to the bar with her check in hand, Rufus dismissed the audience.

^^vv^^vv^^

"And here you were, worrying about taxes," Rude said when I got back to my seat. I grinned. "Congrats, though."

"Thanks, and don't complain," I told him. "You know you'll get your share of the fun."

"I know."

"That _is_ pretty awesome," Reno said. "But won't some of that go to your bills?"

"Pshaw. That doctor thinks he's getting paid?"

We laughed, and for a moment, it felt normal, but I knew it wasn't. There was still an underlying tension between Reno and me. I had been right all along, and now he knew it for himself. His pride had definitely been bent out of shape because of me. And for that, yeah, I did feel a little guilty. After all, we're _supposed_ to be friends.

"They all seemed to like the bit about Aragaki," Rude added, noting how the atmosphere had significantly lightened.

"Yeah, glad that's finally over," I breathed.

"Y'know, the reason that started was because of you," Reno said suddenly. At first, I wondered if he was blaming me, but he didn't sound accusatory. "They were tracking you when you were in Fort Condor. Annnnnd they thought I was you, or you were me, or something."

"So then Annya…"

I _really_ let out a laugh then. Annya must have though she had gotten a hold of a pretty decorated guy. Sucks to be her; I'm straight.

"That's gotta be the funniest thing I've heard in a while," I admitted.

"A toast to human idiocy?" Rude suggested.

"I'd drink to that."

^^vv^^vv^^

Later that evening, even before people could start to file out and call it a night, Mae found herself outside in the cool evening air. It was incredibly warm inside, and she didn't want to take off her jacket for obvious reasons. The night air was perfect, anyway, she had decided.

"Yo."

Mae recognized Reno's voice, but she turned anyway, thinking maybe it was an honest mistake. It wasn't.

"Look, I've got something to say to you," he said, leaning to one side. A hand was shoved in one pocket, and a drink was in the other. "Will you listen?"

"Yeah," Mae replied, turning around to face him. She, too, shoved her hands into her jacket.

"…You kinda pissed me off a lot this year," he admitted. Mae wanted to interrupt, but she could tell he wasn't finished. "And I know I did the same to you, too. But I _am_ sorry. I just got distracted. I don't know how to describe it. But it was out of character."

"I think I get what you mean," Mae said, nodding slowly.

"Maybe it means we're getting old."

"Don't say that word."

Reno grinned, shaking his head.

"Anyway, do ya forgive me?"

"Only if you forgive me." Before Reno could say anything else, Mae continued, "I wasn't exactly the best friend to you, either. I got jealous."

"It's all right." Reno nodded. "I forgive you."

"I forgive you, too." Mae shrugged. "We learned from it, I guess."

"I hope." Scratching the back of his neck, Reno gave Mae a glance-over. "By the way, you look hot in that dress."

Mae smirked, shaking her head. She grabbed Reno's arm, pulling him back toward the door, where Rude and the others were waiting.

"Oh, shaddup. You're only sayin' that because you're drunk."


End file.
